Backyard looking a little lacklustre? Good news: it won’t take much work to get it back to its best. Try one or all of these tips for an instant garden upgrade.
Add potted colour
One super-quick and effective way to give your garden a facelift is to add a pop of colour with flowering annuals. Fill up planters with petunias and pansies, and add borders of impatiens, daisies or zinnias. Using established plants allows you to fill up any holes in your garden, brighten up tired patios with a flash of cheery colour and gives you instant gratification as a gardener. Spend an afternoon ‘painting’ your garden with your favourite flowers and watch the compliments roll in.
Get cleaning
What do outdoor furniture, pavers, barbecues and gutters have in common? They’ll all look immensely better for a deep clean. But you don’t have to spend hours on your hands and knees with a scrubbing brush to get the job done. Invest in a Gerni high-pressure washer and you’ll soar through those tedious tasks with minimum fuss. The Gerni’s market-leading flow rate allows you to clean large areas quickly and efficiently (saving you time, money and water) and, regardless of the model you choose, all accessories and attachments are compatible. That means you can spruce up your pavers, refresh your barbie and clear your gutters in one afternoon. Result.
Collect leaves
Leaf litter is a given in most gardens – scattered around the yard, it looks like the outdoor equivalent of a toy-strewn living room. Pick up that debris, though, and you’ll enjoy the instant visual relief of a clean and clear garden. Whether you bust out the leaf blower or the good old rake-and-wheelbarrow combo for this job, don’t toss the leaves straight into the green waste bin. Leaf litter is perfect compost and mulch material: take a minute to shred dry leaves into small pieces using a lawn mower, then scatter around trees and shrubs or work the nutrient-rich leaves into your vegetable garden beds.
Revive your lawn
Lawn care isn’t just about mowing (although, a quick spin around the backyard with the mower always looks great!). Show your lawn some extra TLC and you’ll be well rewarded for your effort. Donate some of your yard time to weeding, aerating or fertilising your lawn and it will bounce back with renewed vigour. Got a few bare patches? For an instant fix, buy a roll of turf and cut to size. Plant the pieces of turf, ensuring the roots are fully covered, cover with top soil or compost and give them a good water to help the new grass take off.
Change one thing
If you want to make a big impact, try playing with the layout or structural elements of your garden. You could move an outdoor setting to a different area, paint old furniture a fresh colour, rearrange a group of pots or add in a decorative screen to create an outdoor ‘room’. If you’re adding or rearranging pots, planters, bird baths and other garden décor, keep in mind that groups of uneven numbers and varying heights often look the best.
Prune plants
It’s gratifying to see trees and shrubs flourishing, but give them a haircut and you’ll not only tidy up your garden you’ll make your plants happier and healthier in the process. Pruning technique and times depend on the plant, but as a general rule, remove dead, broken or diseased branches and low-hanging growth before finessing the shape of the plant. You should also cut back faded flowers and seed heads to encourage bushy plants and new growth.
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